Luis Berumen

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

October 22, 2018

Draft

Every person I know has either heard of or experienced for themselves the terrorist

attacks of 9/11 on the United States. After this tragic event which left thousands of people

injured or dead it change the way the United States handles foreigners, air ports, and even the

way buildings are made and constructed. Many things changed because of 9/11 which would

never would have been thought of if this event do not take place for good and bad. Something

that changed which was bad is how people viewed the Muslim people after 9/11 and the way

they treated them. Muslims had to change and get used to things for society so that they would

not be seen as terrorists and just regular people and just live their life without worry.

Muslims did not ask for 9/11 to happen no one did but some people view that attack on

the twin towers was all of Muslims doing. That since it was a group of muslims that carried on

the attack all Muslims had something to do with the attack which led to hate or fear of the

Muslim people. In a article by​ Gallup​ they define islamophobia and go into statistics about the

Muslim people and some of their issues. The article states that islamophobia is “​an exaggerated

fear, hatred, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims that is perpetuated by negative stereotypes

resulting in bias, discrimination, and the marginalization and exclusion of Muslims from social,

political, and civic life” (Islamophobia). This is telling us that people have this phobia of Islam

and Muslims that they would do anything to make sure that these people do not get involved in
their lives to not impose that fear, hatred, and hostility towards them. The article states that

before the attack on the twin towers that​ islamophobia was a rare occurrence with fewer than ten

reports of it then jump in numbers after the attack had taken place. This is one of reasons why

Muslim Americans have to change for other people so that they are not fearful or hateful towards

them.

The lives of Muslim Americans had to go under change and get used to things that they

had no worry of before the attack. In an article by Lydia O’Connor she discusses how the lives of

Muslim Americans are seen as either pre-9/11 or post-9/11 and goes into interviews with Muslim

Americans talking about how 9/11 changed the way they live and viewed their live. O'Connor

talks about some keys points including having to examine their faith, dealing with islamophobia,

and how airports are different now. In each point she has Muslim Americans talking about their

experiences with each of these points. O'Connor first interviews a woman about her having to

remove her hijab when the attack had just passed and she “found herself flooded with questions

about the fundamentals of Islam” (How 9/11) and how if these things the terrorists did are apart

of her faith she wants no part of it. The next part of her interviews are part of the people’s

experience with islamophobia. One of the interviewees had a women spit at him just because he

was Muslim and others say they received hateful comments like “go back home” which struck a

lot of these Muslim Americans which made going to public places hard to do especially when

they attack was only a few weeks passed now. The thing that would be different and never be the

same would be anything involving go into airports and flying in general. One interviewee tells

that everytime she wants to fly that “more often than not ... I get stopped and I get patted down”

(How 9/11) and that it always seems to be a Muslim person getting randomly searched. In a
similar article by ​Ramzy Baroud where he discusses his experience with flying that he is so used

to being stopped and having to be double checked that it is normal to him and never questions it

because he knows that it isn’t going away. Muslim Americans have to do so much in order to fit

in to the society they live in.

Muslim Americans had to keep a lot in mind when going out to public to not stir any fear

when they walk the streets and having to get use to things while out. They had to be careful or

what they wore this woman tells a story about her wearing a trench coat when an another woman

stopped her saying “why do have that jacket” (How 9/11) after receiving an answer she kept

going saying “Well I don’t know what you have underneath it. It could be a bomb” (How 9/11).

This is the type of thing if not all Muslim Americans have to deal with at some point or another

unless things change in society. Causal saying became unsayable because it might cause fear like

anything referencing a bomb like saying “you’re the bomb” to some other person could no

longer be said by a Muslim. Some things that Muslim Americans had to get use to were jokes

about their people and about terrorism like any of that is supposed to be made fun of. A woman

tells a story of her attending a comedy show when the comedian called up her name and while

she walked to the stage “he said my last name a few times and then jumped into a barrage of

terrorist and Muslim jokes” (How 9/11) she said she had felt embarrassed. Muslims had to

undergo a lot of different changes after the attack. In a video by StoryCorps which includes a

father and daughter speaking about life after 9/11, the father goes on to say that the people at the

place he worked at tried to get rid of all the Muslims in that area by signing a petition to the

manger. However, manager did not go through with it telling anyone who did not to be around

Muslims to leave and work somewhere else. He also states that people started saying things
about him and his family like “you terrorists, you killed us, you destroyed our country” (How her

life changed). This is the type of hate Muslim Americans started to get after 9/11 and it never

seemed to stop.

Talk about the # of assaults on muslims

Reference the picture

Use the website

Work Cited

Gallup, Inc. “Islamophobia: Understanding Anti-Muslim Sentiment in the West.”

Gallup.com,​

news.gallup.com/poll/157082/islamophobia-understanding-anti-muslim-sentiment-west.aspx.

Khan, Aysha. “Seventeen Years after 9/11, Muslims Are Still 'Presumed Guilty'.”

National Catholic Reporter​, 11 Sept. 2018,

www.ncronline.org/news/people/seventeen-years-after-911-muslims-are-still-presumed-guilty.

Kishi, Katayoun. “Assaults against Muslims in U.S. Surpass 2001 Level.” ​Pew Research

Center,​ Pew Research Center, 15 Nov. 2017,

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/15/assaults-against-muslims-in-u-s-surpass-2001-level/

“Muslims Condemn.” ​Muslims Condemn​, muslimscondemn.com/.

O'Connor, Lydia. “How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans' Lives Forever.” ​The

Huffington Post​, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Sept. 2016,

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/post-911-islamophobia_us_57d075dfe4b0a48094a75bc1.
 Phoenix, Red. “Political Cartoons: 9/11 – 10 Years On, 10 Toons.” ​The Red Phoenix​, 14

Sept. 2011, theredphoenixapl.org/2011/09/12/political-cartoons-911-10-years-on-10-toons/.

StoryCorps, director. ​How Her Life Changed after 9/11 | When We Listen​. ​YouTube,​

YouTube, 25 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEmG92EYftk.